Traveling Stories

10

Jun

Jun 10 @ 01:00 pm - Jun 10 @ 03:00 pm

Traveling Stories:

Kids visit the StoryTent, pick out a book that interests them, and then read it out loud to a volunteer. The volunteer asks engaging questions that help the child build reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. If a child doesn’t know how to read yet, the volunteer will read to them.

Kids earn a book buck for every book they read. If a book is especially long or challenging, they can negotiate with the volunteer for more book bucks. The bucks can be used by a variety of prizes. Through this book buck system we teach kids basic financial literacy skills.

The focus of the StoryTent is creating positive experiences associated with reading, developing strong critical thinking skills and building trust with the families who visit the program.

Mission of Traveling Stories:

Our mission at Traveling Stories is to empower kids to outsmart poverty by providing the literacy and money management skills they need to become productive members of society.

We believe that books are a necessity, not a luxury. The ability to read and write is a human right. We are not afraid to look foolish in our effort to outsmart poverty. We believe there is more than one kind of poverty and more than one kind of hunger. It is important to feed a child’s stomach, but we must not forget their mind and imagination.

Through our mobile StoryTent program we teach kids money management skills and help them fall in love with reading by the 4th grade. At the StoryTents, kids pick out books that interest them and read out loud with a volunteer. For every book read they earn a book buck, which can be redeemed for prizes. We currently serve over 3,000 local kids a year by our weekly programs in El Cajon, City Heights and Imperial Beach.

We serve kids ages 2-12 years old as from birth to 3rd grade, kids are learning how to read, and from 4th grade on they are reading to learn. Kids in low-income households who can’t read proficiently by 4th grade are 15 times more likely to drop out of school. Sadly, in the U.S., 82% of disadvantaged kids can’t read at grade level.